


Two's a Crowd, Three's a Disaster Waiting to Happen

by Imdying



Category: Smosh
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Courtney is always struggling, Multi, Pack Dynamics, canon AU, lowkey angst, no heat stuff or anything cause that shit's gross, the ghost of anthony is watching over us all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:29:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22207162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imdying/pseuds/Imdying
Summary: Courtney's in a pack, and the people are great, and her job is great, and everything's great. But then there's Shayne. And then also Damien. And all three of them are pretty much helpless when it comes to feelings. Just another normal day at Smosh, then.
Relationships: Courtney Miller/Shayne Topp, Damien Haas/Courtney Miller, Damien Haas/Courtney Miller/Shayne Topp, Damien Haas/Shayne Topp, past Ian Hecox/Anthony Padilla
Comments: 2
Kudos: 67





	Two's a Crowd, Three's a Disaster Waiting to Happen

**Author's Note:**

> A/B/O fics are trash, and I never thought I'd be here writing one, but I needed an excuse to write smosh family dynamics so please excuse my sins.  
> If anyone's confused, it basically switches from present to past every ----.  
> Please enjoy 6,000 words of kids being dumb about their feelings.

As much as she hated to admit it, Courtney knew there was something distinctly strange going on these days; something she herself had been ignoring. Frustrated, she exited out of the spec scripts that Monica had asked her to start on for an upcoming Smosh pit theater video without even saving them and slammed her laptop shut.

Keith glanced up at her briefly from the couch he was lounging on located on the opposite side of Mythical’s breakroom, but he seemed to think better of whatever remark was on the tip of his tongue. Courtney sighed noisily through her nose and ran a hand through her messy hair.

It wasn’t that she had _no_ idea what the problem was; no, she at least knew very well whom the problem revolved around. Or rather _whoms._ The redhead bit back another sigh. The pack dynamic had been off for a couple weeks now, maybe even months, but there was no denying that much. Noah had been uncharacteristically clingy, seeking approval and affection more than usual, and Olivia seemed more easily agitated and territorial, easily provoked by teasing from Keith that she would usually just take in stride.

Although, Courtney allowed, it was sort of difficult to measure what was considered “normal” behavior for a pack like theirs. They had many features that lead others to consider them _atypical_ , she thought wryly. Not only did they all work together, being a large pack constantly in the public eye had often weighed heavily on every one of them at one point or another. Every gesture caught on camera was scrutinized to death, commenters disparaging Ian for being an inept pack leader or criticizing one of the alphas for being too rough with one of the omegas during a game bang punishment. Bullshit like that. The magnifying glass that their internet fame put them under had led to a lot of heartache and long, emotionally-draining conversations over incidents that most packmates would’ve barely remembered minutes after they happened.

Courtney was definitively not complaining, though. When she looked at the life around her, what she saw was a dream come true. Growing up, in her massive family living in a tiny town, Courtney wouldn’t have even dared to think that someday she would be creating content for millions of adoring fans to see and apart of a pack that she didn’t even know it was possible to love this much.

Which is why, she thought, that it _sucked_ so much that everything was so freakin' weird right now. Courtney was rarely at such a complete and utter loss at what to do. Courtney was a fixer; yes, she was _that_ type of omega, as much as she tried to project a tougher image to the fans. She worried and fussed over her friends, she remembered birthdays and anniversaries naturally and she started tough conversations about feelings and insecurities that the others would be more than happy to push down indefinitely.

But this _thing._ With Shayne. And with Damien. Courtney pouted despite herself. She didn’t even fully know what the problem was. And what’s worse, she didn’t even want to think about it, because she might just be scared of what she’ll unearth if she does. And then she would have to deal with _that!_

Maybe she should just suck it up and talk to Ian about it.

She could smell the faintest scent of Shayne on the bean bags and the coffee mug he had gifted to her last Christmas if she strained, and her mood only darkened even further in response.

She dropped her head onto the desk with a dramatic thud. Courtney could vividly see the annoyed eye roll she was sure Keith was giving her at that moment. Without looking up, she flipped him the bird. His goofy laughter broke the silence hanging over the room, finally making a smile creep onto her face, against her will.

“Hey, Liv-Liv and I are headed to a late lunch, are you in or what?” he asked, stretching out leisurely before standing up.

Courtney’s resolve broke, and she was standing up and shoving her laptop into her backpack before she even really had time to think about it.

“Only if I get to chose the place this time!” she said cheekily, brushing past him and out the door, leaving him to trail after her, fondly exasperated.

She would just have to come back to this some other time.

___________________

Courtney still remembered the day she got the green light to officially join Smosh. Of course she did, how could she not? It was a scene that might as well be imprinted on the insides of her eyelids, like if she closed them hard enough, she might be able to go back there for just a minute.

She remembers nervously peering, in all her baby-faced and uneven-eyebrowed glory, across the long table of the conference room at the two men who had been speaking in soft, encouraging tones to her.

That had been another big shock for her to get used to, aside from the size of L.A., the snobbery of other influencers, and all the other mundane changes. Being in league with one of the internet’s oldest, most famous mated couples. Anthony Padilla, the charming alpha with deceptively intimidating good looks, and Ian Hecox, the sarcastic, wise-cracking omega with blue eyes that twinkled like he was always in on a joke that you weren’t. Two people that she had practically grown up watching. Looking back, Courtney was sure that it had taken weeks for the stars to fade from her eyes whenever Ian or Anthony so much as gave her a stage direction during a shoot.

And to be sitting across the table and hear the two of them tell her that, after much deliberation and a successful trial run period, they thought that she would be a perfect fit for the Smosh family; it had stolen the very breath from her lungs. Because she knew that they weren’t only saying yes to having her on the team, they were saying that they wanted _her._ In _their pack_.

It was a smart move on their part; the public was harsh to young, unmated, packless omegas in the spotlight, especially being in the position that much of the youtube shenanigans that went on at Smosh would put Courtney in. Desirable, seemingly accessible, vulnerable --all for the sake of comedy, sure and par for the course for an internet star—but it still undeniably left her an open target. Yes, belonging to a pack would shield her from most of the scrutiny and risk, allowing her to pursue her dream of acting and doing comedy.

A thousand thoughts had run through Courtney’s mind as she gazed at the couple stood before her. _Packmates, alpha, safety, family._ But she kept herself restrained, hesitant as she looked to Anthony for a sign before doing anything.

Anthony’s brown eyes shone as he sighed and shrugged in faux exasperation.

“Ok, ok, just come on and get over here already.”

Courtney remembers letting out a squeal of excitement and rushing over to the two’s waiting embrace. Before that moment, she had never felt more contentment or more safe in a pair of arms than when Ian and Anthony had accepted her into their pack. Warm and at ease, she had leaned back to offer her neck, and her Alpha had scented her for the first time. It was intimate, in a way she had felt like no one had really adequately prepared her for ( _gee, thanks a lot mom),_ but it made her feel whole; like she finally belonged.

There had been others in the pack already of course, settled and familiar with each other long before she had ever arrived on the scene. She had already known of the Smosh games crew; the dazzlingly athletic and beautiful alphas, Mari, Wes, and Flitz, the eccentric and argumentative betas, Sohinki and Lasercorn, and, of course, the loud and demanding omega, Joven. All older, more experienced, respected. She had approached them, shy and unsure, and every one of them had welcomed her into the pack with open arms. Mari and Wes were delighted to have another omega to dote on and spoil, and Sohinki and Joven never failed to take an opportunity to tease Courtney mercilessly, whatever the occasion.

And of course, there were the younger three, the squad members, whom Courtney would come to cherish the most out of the entire pack. Their own dynamic was still new, delicate and fragile, by the time Courtney had been thrown into the mix.

A teenager, barely presented as an omega ( _Really, what had Ian and Anthony been thinking,_ Courtney remembers thinking), with absurdly gangly limbs, comically oversized glasses, and an insanely sharp wit. Noah was at times sassy in the way only omegas could really truly be, and other times unnervingly sensual and teasing for seemingly no good reason. Their shared status brought the two of them closer together, Noah and Courtney understanding certain sensitivities and rationale that the others just didn’t get sometimes. Noah was the closest thing she had to a sibling in the pack, mirroring her relationships with her actual siblings (although, maybe a little softer, and mushier).

The beta, Keith, had been the one Courtney had butted heads with the most, in the beginning at least. Courtney’s need to impress and improve had clashed with Keith’s stubbornness, unwilling to bend to accommodate the younger’s feelings. Ian had needed to intervene on more than one occasion in an argument between the pair. But the two of them continued to grow together, learning to navigate one another, and the ways their affection for each other manifested. Courtney thought that that struggle had eventually earned Keith a special, well-earned place in her heart.

And then there was the alpha, Olivia. She was gorgeous, bold and unapologetic in a way that had floored Courtney when they first met. Olivia was an individual, first and foremost, but she displayed none of the alpha traits that always tended to make Courtney wary. She wasn’t stuck up; she didn’t force Keith and Noah to follow her lead when they clearly didn’t want to. She was maybe a little preoccupied with her looks, but it was clear that the alpha loved her packmates just as much, if not more than, she loved herself. Olivia’s dark eyes and dimples had made her pulse quicken, in a way that slightly embarrassed Courtney to think back on nowadays. Alright, she had been doe-eyed and swept away in Olivia’s confidence and charm, sue her then.

So the four of them shot sketches, went on field trips for vlogs, crashed on each other couches after long nights of take-out and card games, swapped jackets and hoodies to keep each other’s scents strong. They jam packed a lot of life in a relatively short period of time, driving the squad closer together than Courtney had previously even thought possible.

Not long after her own arrival, Ian and Anthony were introducing a new member to the four of them, a muscular, blond alpha that Courtney vaguely remembered from auditions all those months ago.

( _“Jesus Christ,” Keith had whispered, “At this rate Ian and Anthony aren’t even gonna need to have any kids of their own with all the strays they pick up, goddamn.”)_

Courtney didn’t know, at the time, what to make of Shayne. She noticed that he and Olivia liked to push each other’s buttons, friendly ribbing that didn’t [usually] cross into aggressive territory. Noah liked to hang off of him --in that understated, casual way of his--and make him laugh, and Keith had accepted him in the easy, passive way he did most things.

But Courtney held back. Maybe it was because he was an alpha, and alpha she didn’t know very well at that. She stayed friendly, but reserved. When he noticed this, Shayne started to try extra hard to earn Courtney’s favor. He cracked jokes just for her when they were filming. Offscreen, he ordered her favorite takeout, offered to carry her bag, all in attempts to get in her good graces.

The blond had remained less than impressed. She had seen greasy alpha moves before, more than a thousand time over. It wasn’t for a while that Courtney started to see through the cracks in Shayne’s charismatic, overconfident façade. Only when she overheard him helping Noah through a particularly nasty breakup with his older alpha girlfriend, or she saw him carrying Olivia to the car after she had fallen asleep at an overnight shoot, had Courtney thought she finally had a better grasp on what kind of guy Shayne was.

And so, she let her final barrier fall, allowing Shayne to truly move into the fold and take his place in the pack. She let Shayne tumble into her arms and add his scent to the existing symphony of smells from her packmates already lingering on her skin, and in a way, it felt like a homecoming.

Even then, she knew that everything was still fresh and uncertain, and she was still learning her place in it. She still said the wrong thing sometimes, was too eager or immature. She struggled to mold herself into who she knew she could be, and who the pack needed her to be. But when she heard Keith and Noah’s endless, breathless giggles, or caught the scent of Olivia’s sweet lavender smell, or gazed into Anthony’s steady brown eyes, Courtney knew that they were so, utterly worth it.

\---------

They were filming another video for Smosh pit. It was a “Reading Mean Comments” concept, something that they themselves had never done but Courtney recalls Smosh games doing what seems like lifetimes ago. The six of them were piled into the small set, Courtney seated on the couch with Damien to her left and Noah and Olivia to the right. Keith and Shayne were perched on some tall stools they had found laying around the props room. Ian watched supportively from behind the cameramen, popping in to make a rebuttal to particularly nasty comment every now and then.

Despite the weird air that lingered over the squad, they were all professionals and Courtney was certain that they made sure that it didn’t come through in the videos. From what she could tell, the fans didn’t suspect anything. What wild speculations they would concoct if they did, she shuddered to think about.

The usual stream of “Olivia’s not funny”, “Noah dresses weird”, and “Keith’s a terrible beta” (which to be fair, he kind of was) washed over Courtney as she was dimly aware of her friends' clever clapbacks and general shenanigans in the back of her mind.

She tuned back into the chatter of her friends. Noah started reading an especially unkind comment about Courtney being a needy, attention-seeking omega that she was actually a little surprised that Sarah kept in for the final cut. Worded just cleverly enough to earn screen time, and to hide how deep the blow would really run, she guessed. 

The squad erupted into noise, Keith loud, disbelieving guffaw and Noah’s deadpan string of “No, no, absolutely not’s” ringing out above the rest. She played her part and laughed indignantly while Ian and Noah comfortingly patted her shoulders.

Out of the corner of her eye, Courtney dared to sneak a glance at Shayne. His jaw was set sharply, expression stony. She knew him well enough to know that he was trying to downplay his upset, but he was really only half-succeeding at it.

When she finally turned to face him, she saw him shrug and huff a little laugh.

“People on the internet these days are getting _really_ bold about what they’ll say about other peoples packmates, is all I’m going to say about that one,” he said, not looking at her but directly into the camera instead. Keith loudly "amen-ed" to that and Noah nodded sagely. The alpha's tone was that half-joking attitude he sometimes went for with the intent of unintentional comedy, but it landed just a little too heavily to completely pay off.

Courtney resisted the urge to wince. She blew out a quick breath, turning to entwine her hand with Damien’s, and she felt him stiffen beside her.

Public displays of affection between members of a pack were unequivocally commonplace and normal; hand-holding, cuddling, even platonic kisses were all simply signs of a healthy pack.

There was no reason for Damien to react unexpectedly or uncomfortably to such a simple gesture, and Courtney knew that he knew that too. It would be an even more obvious tip-off that something was _up_ than Shayne’s uncharacteristically somber behavior.

Thus, Damien accepted her hand and shot her a smile, quick and sweet, but one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. The beta shifted his attention to where Shayne was launching into a mediocre impression of some 90’s-era celebrity, maybe Mark Wahlberg (she hadn’t been paying attention), and his smile got a little easier.

It took everything Courtney had not to drop her head into her hands and scream.

\---------------

And then, one day, Anthony left.

No one could say they hadn’t seen anything coming; he had been restless and withdrawn, his beautiful brown eyes constantly shifty and searching for something over the horizon.

Courtney frowned at the memory of those days. She guessed whatever Anthony had been searching for, he didn’t find it with them.

The omega still didn’t know what specific words had been exchanged between Ian and Anthony on that day. She remembers, though, the way their frantic arguing had shook the entire building, and the feeling of being tucked into Olivia’s secure arms even as tears streamed down both of their cheeks. She remembers Anthony finally climbing down the staircase and pausing at the door, gaze flickering to them before he could stop himself. His mouth had opened to say something before quickly snapping shut, his hand clutching so desperately at the door frame that Courtney had stupidly worried that he might break it. Anthony’s warm brown eyes and steady shoulders had then turned and walked out, out of the house and out of their lives, and he hadn’t been back since.

She only knew what Anthony would go on to say in his, “Why I left” video. That he had resented the pressure society had put on him to mate at such an early age, and the feelings of inadequacy in meeting the expectations of being the alpha of such a large, distinguished pack that had crushed him. He felt robbed, of some other life that he never got live, never even thought to want. Watching him through the screen, promising that he had never resented any of his packmates, not even for a second and that he knew nothing he could say would ever be a good enough excuse, Courtney had felt numb.

Anthony threw himself into his new channel, exploring subcultures and communities that had been sidelined and ridiculed by society, seeking to give them a platform of compassion and understanding. It was clear that he had finally found his passion, starting to piece together whatever he had been dreaming of in the back of his mind for all those years.

Last Courtney had heard of him, he had been running around with another influencer, a devastatingly beautiful female alpha, and well… Courtney didn’t envy their position. While, like with most other social movements, society had come very far from the archaic pack politics of the past, many people still weren’t ready to openly welcome something as radical as an alpha couple.

At the very least, Courtney would never fault Anthony for not being brave and chasing what he wanted.

Ok, so Courtney knew she hadn’t completely worked through her Anthony stuff, probably not even most of it, but she had never really let herself feel sorry for herself when she saw how it had affected Ian.

As much as it cut like a knife to think about how her own alpha had chosen _her_ , promising to protect her and be there, and then disappeared, she couldn’t even begin to imagine how Ian felt.

His partner had walked back on that sacred commitment he had made—to love Ian, to build a family together, and to share a life with each other. He had been rejected on an international stage, been told that his pack, that _he_ was simply not enough. He had lost his best friend, the love of his life, and his entire future all in one crippling blow.

But Ian had held the pack together through it all. He refused to let it tear them apart, and he told them all that, to him, _they_ were the thing that was worth fighting for. Ian stepped up to be both alpha and omega, forced to stretch around the Anthony-shaped hole that had been left behind. And he ran himself into the ground trying to do it all, eyes permanently tired and smiles much rarer than they had once been, but he did it.

Ian wasn’t the same after that. The all knew it, but they still said nothing. They would joke of course, carefully and occasionally, but there was really nothing they could do. The pack learned to operate in this new “normal”, unconventional –not by choice—but eventually it came to be freeing. It showed that they were a pack not because that’s what society told them to be, but because they were where they belonged. With each other. Friends, teammates, family.

She didn’t know if the rest of them noticed, but there were some days when Ian couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. He got this vacant, mournful look on his face that Courtney had silently dubbed the “alpha-ex longing” face. Ian did everything in his power to avoid looking weak or vulnerable in front of the rest of the kids, so when Courtney stumbled across him in these states, she never breathed a word of it to the others.

And if on some days Ian needed Courtney to climb into his bed, when everything just got to be too much, and allow them cling to each other; to be there for him, warm, loving, constant. Well, she would just keep that to herself.

\---------

Courtney decided to talk to Damien first. It just felt like the right [read: easier] thing to do.

She ambushed him as he was leaving filming a games video with Mari and Lasercorn, mumbling “Oh no you don’t” when he tried to wriggle free. She grabbed him and steered him towards the props closet where she was mostly sure no one would interrupt them. When she caught Mari’s questioning, narrowed eyes, Courtney gave the alpha her most winning smile, and Mari quietly laughed to herself and left Damien to Courtney’s mercy.

“Alright, feisty, what’s this about?” Damien asked once Courtney had shut the closet door behind them.

She fixed him with an unimpressed look.

“Really?”

He shrugged sheepishly.

“Damien, this whole thing is getting ridiculous, and it’s all because we refuse to _talk to each other,”_ she emphasized every word with a smack to his chest. “I have no idea what’s going on in that head of yours.”

The “either of your heads” went unsaid.

Damien deflated.

“I get that Court, but I don’t really know what you want me to say. I’m a little out of my depths with all of this anyway.”

“Is it because of what Tommy said at the party a couple weeks ago?” Courtney asked, already knowing the answer.

Tommy, a non-pack member but a dear friend, had made an offhand comment at a small gathering they had at the office, already considerably tipsy on lukewarm wine coolers. Courtney, Shayne, and Damien had been tucked away in a corner, teasing each other and messing around like normal. _Maybe_ they had been a just a smidge more touchy than usual.

Tommy had wondered loudly, tactless in a way he usually wasn’t, “Hey, what’s the deal with you three, anyway? I could never figure it out, you know. One moment I was sure it was Shayne and Courtney all the way, and then I blink and Shayne is all over Damien. And then its like?? Damien and Courtney? Like, what the fuck is up with that? Maybe you should get together and just bang it all out, if you know what I’m sayin—shit,” Tommy had spilled his drink down the front of his own stylish shirt at that point.

And there it was. Just a lighthearted comment, made by a less than sober co-worker. In the moment, it was more than easy to laugh off as Monica escorted Tommy out of the room to lay down somewhere quiet.

But it had, apparently, struck a weird chord between them. Maybe a little too real to be harmlessly funny; an unsuspecting catalyst to some things better left unsaid. Tommy shoots he scores, Courtney thought bitterly. Doors had been opened that all three of them wished they go back and close.

Damien said nothing, mouth pressed into a thin line and eyes fixed guiltily onto the floor. It hurt Courtney to see Damien like this, so far from his usual light-hearted, put together self.

“Hey, just look at me,” she moved to cup his sharp jaw and kindly but purposefully made him meet her eyes, “I’m here, right now, and all I’m asking is for you to be honest with me. What do _you_ want, Damien?” A pleading note crept in her tone by the end.

Damien flushed uncomfortably and swallowed hard. A beat of silence passed.

“Well, I guess if we’re being honest Courtney, I like you. I really do, and that’s hard for me to say, because I don’t know what that means for everyone else. But then there’s also Shayne…” He trailed off.

And Courtney knew that. But it helped to hear Damien say it. It cemented this strange, demented love triangle from hell they found themselves trapped in.

She nodded and dropped her hand from his face to reach for his.

“And what does Shayne think about all of this?” she ventured.

Damien laughed unhappily.

“How would I know, Court? He’s completely shut down. He’s taking this harder than anyone, and he sure as hell isn’t talking to me about it.”

This time it was out of her control how she needed keep her eyes screwed shut for a second to keep an irritated scream from bubbling up.

“Could you just promise to talk to him, please,” she cut off Damien’s protests before they even leave his mouth, “Please?”

The beta wilted and nodded his head grimly. Courtney breathed out a relieved thank you and Damien turned to leave.

“And Damien?” His hand froze on the door handle. She took a breath, “I know we’re all scared about this, like scared shitless, and it’s weird and new and complicated. I know I’m terrified of doing something wrong but… I think that Ian, above everything, would just want us to be happy.”

Damien’s eyes sparkled with unspoken emotion and he ducked his head and retreated.

\---------------------

When Shayne had bounded up to the squad with Damien on his arm, the four of them had been equally lost. There was a certain fascination to him; he was someone from Shayne’s past, someone who had known their packmate before even they had.

None of them had ever seen Shayne act the way he did when he was with Damien. His incessant need to show off and perform got turned up to eleven. Damien was able to capture Shayne’s attention like no one else, and their closeness and familiarity would be almost threatening to the rest of the pack if it were anyone less harmless and lovable than Damien.

It was in the eerie twilight period leading up to the Anthony Incident™ that Damien was distractedly inducted into the pack. It felt almost as if Damien had fallen under the radar, not that the sunshiny beta even seemed to care. He fit neatly into the empty spot next to Shayne that none of them had even realized was there, winning over the remaining Smosh games members and charming the squad without even having to try.

And that was the thing, Courtney wasn’t jealous. How could she be, when she loved Damien as much as everyone else did. What really troubled her was the way the two of them fit together, perfectly snug, no room for anyone else. She wasn’t used to having to share Shayne like this, and she also felt like something was holding her back from being able to really get close to Damien.

Deep down, in that nebulous, unspoken part of her conscious, Courtney just knew that if it ever came down to it, Damien and Shayne would choose each other over her every time. And it didn’t feel good to acknowledge—it made her feel pretty shitty to be honest—but it was something she was going to work through.

Some packmates are closer than others, it happened all the time. She still had Keith, Olivia, and Noah, _and_ Damien and Shayne for that matter. Goddammit, Courtney get your act together.

But these days, with Olivia having already found her mate, Sam, and even Keith and Noah disappearing off together more and more, Courtney couldn’t help but wonder; where did that leave her?

Shit, why was this so hard? It hurt in a way that made her angry that it hurt in the first place, but Courtney was willing to grow and get over it. She always was. For her pack, for her friends, it was worth it.

\---------------

Courtney was idly spit balling ideas and team names for Smosh winter games, if they decided to do it at all this year, with Sarah and Matt Raub on a Monday morning when she heard someone attempting to do a bird call from behind a potted plant.

Courtney looked at the plant, identifying the poorly concealed silhouette of Damien, and turned to glance at Sarah and Matt. They both flickered their wide-eyed gazes from the plant back to Courtney, and said absolutely nothing. Simultaneously, they whirled around to leave the studio, Sarah sipping her La Croix obnoxiously and Matt whistling loudly and off-key.

Courtney rushed over to the plant and hissed at Damien,

“What the hell are you doing, idiot?!”

“I needed to get your attention, and I didn’t want to alarm Sarah and Matt Raub!” he hissed back.

“And you thought _this_ was being discreet?!?”

Damien raised a hand to silence her, “We don’t have time for this! Shayne’s waiting outside in the parking lot, come on.”

She felt her blood run cold. Ok, shit, this was happening then.

Damien’s hand found its way into Courtney’s once again, and the familiarity of it was enough to calm her racing pulse for a moment at least.

Damien led her through the corridors of Mythical, and Courtney let herself be dragged along. On the way, they passed Noah and Ian lazily chatting in the doorway of a set, and both of them perked up immediately as they sensed the smell of Courtney’s anxiety. She barely had time to shoot them a nervous smile before she was swept away again.

Damien pushed the entryway door open, and sunlight flooded Courtney’s field of vision. Her eyes landed on Shayne, leaning against the door of his Toyota looking stupidly handsome in his black aviators and leather jacket, looking windswept and unattainable.

He looked like a total douche, but seeing him still made Courtney’s breath pick up and get caught in her throat.

She had to look away, and she and Damien crossed the parking lot to meet him, the breeze rushing around them making her sink further into her jacket.

Shayne took off his glasses and met Courtney’s hesitant stare, and Damien let go of her hand to stand by Shayne. She wondered if he knew, if _they_ knew, how in that moment they held her stupidly fragile little heart in their hands.

No one said anything. The roaring sound of L.A. traffic was the only thing Courtney could hear.

She couldn’t think of anything to say. Courtney wore her emotions on her sleeve, she was sure that they knew her side already. They had to know.

Damien made an annoyed sound.

“I guess I’ll talk first then. Courtney, Shayne and I talked last night and we more or less worked all of our stuff out,” he moved to put a reassuring arm around Shayne’s tense shoulders, “We decided we want to give this a shot.”

Courtney blinked. She attempted to swallow past the newly forming lump in her throat.

“Oh! I’m… really happy for you guys! I really hope that it works out for you guys. I’ll be cheering for you both, of course, packmates support packmates!” she laughed weakly. And then, to her own horror, Courtney burst into tears.

Twin looks of terror appeared on Shayne and Damien’s faces as they rushed to comfort her, Damien’s frantic stream of apologies doing little to placate her.

Shayne finally spoke.

“Courtney why are you crying?” he questioned gently but determined.

The redhead fought to control her sobs.

“I just—I just should’ve know this is how it would go. T-that you guys would choose each other. And I understand! I promise I do. I just… I feel so stupid right now,” she hiccupped. She finally let her head fall, the heels of her hands digging into her eyes in vain attempt to stop the onslaught of tears.

Someone was moving her hands away from her face and coming up to cradle her cheeks. Shayne looked at her with a pained expression, but pained at what she didn’t know.

“Court, I’m so sorry,” his voice broke on the word sorry, “that we, that _I_ made you feel that way. Like you were some kind of second choice or anything like that.” He laughed bitterly.

He moved to crush her and Damien in an embrace, her head tucked under Shayne’s chin and Damien’s safe warmth shielding her.

“You already knew that I’m terrible with all this crap anyways,” Courtney felt the low rumble as he spoke through his chest, “Imagine that, putting the three Smosh members who are the worst dating together would cause some problems.”

Damien snorted dryly.

“I was petrified of doing something wrong,” Shayne continued, “so I did nothing instead. I should have thought how that would make you guys feel. I’m sorry. I’m terrible with all this vulnerability and feelings stuff. I guess it’s all that bullshit alpha socialization. ‘Don’t talk about your feelings, Shayne, just lift more weights and wink at the omegas’, you guys know how it is.”

He leaned back to look at both of them.

“But I want to get better,” Courtney couldn’t help the way her heart fluttered at words, “if you’ll have me, I guess.” He chuckled quietly, turning a light shade of pink.

Damien was smiling, barely suppressing how pleased he was.

“I know this is gonna be new and maybe a little hard to navigate at times. We’re traveling off the beaten path at this point, boys and girls. But I don’t give a fuck about the stares or comments or any of it,” Shayne and Courtney briefly glanced at each other in surprise at the rare Damien swear, “to me, this is worth it.” Shayne squeezed his arm.

The two boys turned to her expectantly.

“My makeup’s probably all fucked up isn’t it?” This startled a laugh out the both of them. Courtney cleared her throat.

“Well, to me, I knew I couldn’t choose between the two of you for a reason. Because I don’t need to. This is my destiny, being here, with _both_ of you.”

She was expecting Shayne’s lovingly skeptical expression at the mention of destiny, but she was surprised to see Damien nodding along.

“I’m all in. As if there was ever even a question about it.”

Shayne rushed up to kiss her, and she definitely couldn’t breath for moment. She pulled back after a second to glance up into Shayne’s blue eyes, and the biting chill she had felt when she first stepped outside was completely replaced with a giddy warmth.

When she looked over to Damien, she saw his hazel eyes waiting for her, and she leaned in without a second thought. Kissing Damien was a little sweeter than kissing Shayne had been. Not better, just different, in a way that excited her to explore the other ways they were different too.

Shayne and Damien exchanged a quick, apprehensive gaze before looking away.

“Oh, just kiss each other already, you big dummies,” Courtney exclaimed, already sick of their bullshit.

It was hardly more than a peck, but it was comfortable and confident, and it worked for them. That was all the mattered.

“Oh god, we’re going to be the worst kind of mates, aren’t we,” the omega blurted out in fake irritation.

The three of them dissolved into giggles. Shayne and Damien launched into lunch plans, and their excited rambling faded into pleasant background noise.

Courtney took a moment to just be thankful. A chance. She had been given a chance to do this right, and she never been more grateful for anything in her entire life.

She looked towards the sky, and she couldn’t help but feel the spirit of Ian smiling down on them. She kissed two of her fingers and brought them up in a humble solute, until Shayne and Damien’s shouts broke her out of her revelry, urging her to get into the car. She hurried into the backseat, and the car peeled out of the parking lot in search of in-n-out in a cloud of screeching laughter and dust.

\-------------

Ian watched the car disappear down the street from the second story window of the building, hand clutching his _My Favorite Coffee_ mug.

His heart felt so full that it threatened to burst.

He lifted a hand to discreetly wipe away the tears welling up when someone walked into his office.

“Hey Ian, about that collab coming up—”

“Get out of here, Joven, Jesus Christ!”

**Author's Note:**

> It was hard to write a fic where Court-bort was sad for most of it. Also can you tell that Anthony leaving hit me pretty hard? Anyways, thank you for reading this monster of a one-shot, feel free to leave a kudos or a comment. Smosh is one of my favorite things in the world, and this ship is criminally underrated. I couldn't decide between Shourtney, Shaymien, or Courtmien so I figured, why should they have to?


End file.
